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COMMENTARY
THE U.S. MUST CONFRONT AND ADDRESS ANTI-ASIAN HATE AND VIOLENCE IN OUR NATION
By Anh Lê
I am a Vietnamese American citizen. I hope that today's Congressional hearing on Anti-Asian Hate and Violence will increase awareness of this serious problem in our nation and lead to passage of new legislation to address it.
I myself personally encountered anti-Asian acts of hate and bullying perpetrated against me at my neighborhood Trader Joe's grocery store in San Francisco near Fisherman's Wharf. The perpetrators were a Caucasian male manager and an African American male employee. The Caucasian manager has since transferred to another store in the Trader Joe's chain.
Rep. Chip Roy (R, Texas) asserted that he did not want today's hearing to be "the policing of rhetoric." He needs to be educated that terms such as "kung flu" to refer to the Covid-19 virus and pandemic are downright racist and filled with bigotry.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D, New York) eloquently spoke to the issue Congress is addressing and the gravity of the problem.
The first group of witnesses who testified at the hearing was a distinguished panel of Asian American Congresswomen, who called on Americans to face and address the problem of anti-Asian hate and violence urgently and for Congress to pass new anti-hate legislation which promote equality for all races and ethnicities.
The chairperson of the committee hearing, Rep. Steve Cohen (D, Tennessee), is regarded as one of the most progressive members of Congress. Yet, for each of the Congresswomen who testified, Rep. Cohen welcomed her to the hearing by calling her "Congressman." I wonder whether he knows or is aware of each of these congressional women's gender. I hope that someone will gently enlighten the gentleman from Tennessee, as to the gender of the gentlewomen who are his colleagues in Congress.
Congressman Cohen, please address Rep. Doris Matsui as "Congresswoman Matsui." Same suggestion with Rep. Judy Chu, please call her "Congresswoman Chu." You get the idea. It just requires a small tweaking of a word in your vocabulary repertoire. But it makes a whole world of difference. Webster, I am sure, would agree.
Anh Lê is an independent journalist.
Copyright @ Anh Lê, March 18, 2021